Seating attachment for land vehicles



Sept. 30, 1969 J. J. M GANN, JR 3,469,355

SEATING ATTACHMENT FOR LAND VEHICLES Filed March 20, 1967 INVENTOR United States Patent US. Cl. 528 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The unitary vehicle attachment comprises a rigid framework defining an elongated rectangular device having open ends, a top, base, front and rear sides and which provide a seating enclosur having upright partitioning framework or railing extending longitudinally thereof throughout the length thereof dividing the interior thereof into compartments of like depth from front to rear. The front portion of each compartment has a walkway extending the length thereof and the rear portion of each compartment has a framework extending the length thereof spaced upwardly of its respective walk-way and defining an elevated planar seat support on which seats with backs are supported. The walkway of the adjacent rearward compartment is elevated above that of the forward compartment and is carried by and substantially in the plane of the framework defining the planar seat support of the forward compartment.

This invention relates to attachments for land vehicles, which incoroprate seating arrangements. The object of this invention is to provide a seating attachment specifically designed to permit comfortable viewing of golf tournaments by spectators. It is particularly suited to providing an excellent viewing method for modern golf tournaments where thousands of spectators are present.

Golf is perhaps the only sport where, under present viewing conditions the spectators get as much exercise as the contestants. Viewing conditions at large tournaments leave much to be desired. After each stroke by a player, there is a scurrying by large numbers of spectators for front row positions from which to view the next stroke. Front row positions, however, go only to the quick and agile and many spectators get only a view of the backs of the heads of those in the front rows. This manner of viewing, when continued for 18 holes is an exhausting and most unsatisfactory experience. Contrast this with the relative comfort of spectators at a baseball or football game, where the spectators are able to sit in one place and have a fine view of the play.

It is an object of this invention to provide at attachment for standard vehicles such as trucks, jeeps or trailers, which permits a better, more comfortable and less fatiguing viewing method than is now available in golf tournaments. A very important feature of this invention is that it permits spectators to follow the play of a particular golf match from hole to hole over the entire course while comfortably seated. Another important feature of this invention is that it permits the riding spectators to view the play over the heads of pedestrian spectators.

Briefly, the invention consists of an attachment which can be mounted on jeeps, trucks, or trailers, and which contains a number of bucket seats, with seat belts, arranged in elevated rows to permit viewing of the play in golf tournaments, over the heads of pedestrian spectators. The drawings given below show only two rows of seats with two seats in each row, but this is for illustrative purposes only. The actual number of rows and num- Patented Sept. 30, 1969 ber of seats in each row would be limited only by the weight carrying capacity of the vehicle to which the invention was attached.

FIGURE 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the invention and shows the manner of elevation of one row of seats behind the other, and the arrangement of all principal parts of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the same embodiment of the invention, and shows the horizontal arrangement of the seats, and the appearance of the invention as mounted on a pickup trucks.

Referring to FIGURE 1, there is shown a supporting framework 1 which can be made of wood, metal, or other material of sufiicient strength to support the weight of the passengers and seats. Bucket seats 2, are securely fixed to the framework by means of screws, bolts or clamps. Top 3 which can be made of canvas, plastic, or light metal is attached to the supporting framework. A railing 4 is positioned in each row of seats. A walkway 5 is positioned in front of each row of seats and between the row of seats and the adjacent railing. A seat belt 6 is provided for each seat and the hand rails 7 are secured to the supporting framework adjacent each seat. The bucket seats, seat belts and hand rails are important to enable spectators to remain securely fixed in their seats, and maintain their balance while the vehicle is in motion. The method of attachment of the invention to the vehicle varies with the type of vehicles involved. On pickup trucks, for example, a convenient method is to attach vertical steel members to the bottom of the framework, either by welding or bolts and to insert these vertical members in slots already provided on late model production models of pickup trucks. Another method is by bolting the attachment to the bed of a truck or flatbed trailer.

What is claimed is:

1. A shelf-contained unitary attachment assembly adapted to be detachably mounted on land vehicles, said assembly comprising a rigid three dimensional framework defining an elongated rectangular seating enclosure having open ends, an open top, base, and open front and rear sides, said attachment having upright framework members extending longitudinally thereof throughout the length thereof dividing the interior thereof into at least two compartments of like depth from front to rear, the front portion of each compartment having a walkway extending the length thereof and the rear portion of each compartment having additional framework members extending the length thereof spaced upwardly of its walkway and defining an elevated planar seat support, seats with backs on said support, the walkway of the front compartment being carried directly by the base framework, and the walkway of the adjacent rearward compartment being carried by and being substantially in the same plane as the framework defining the planar seat support of the adjacent forward compartment, said upright framework members providing a support for the backs of seats forwardly thereof and a railing for the walkway rearwardly thereof, the front side of the attachment assembly being open and provided with a railing on the forward side of the front walkway whereby persons occupying said seats may be in an elevated position and obtain a relatively unobstructed view of events forwardly thereof such as a golf tournament.

2. An attachment as defined in claim 1 wherein hand rails are mounted on the seat support framework at each side of each seat.

(References on following page) Brown 29664 X Hansen 29664 Gorlenko 528 5 Floggus 296-64 Wenger 52-69 X Cummins 29664 X FOREIGN PATENTS 962,118 6/ 1964 Great Britain.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

